Arch supporting insole



July 13, 1937. M. HACK ET AL.

ARCH SUPPORTING INS QLE Filed Jan. 7, 1955 Patented July 13, 1937 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE ARCH SUPPORTING INSOLE Application January 7, 1935,Serial No. 767

3 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes and more particularly to an archsupporting insole.

The main object of the invention is to provide a new type of insolewhich possesses not only a support for the inner longitudinal arch inthe nature of an extension or flange arising in the arch of the foot,but also a support for the outside of the foot consisting of two flangesor extensions, one arising in the forepart of the heel,

and the other back of the toes and taking in the metatarsal region, ,butnot including the base of the fifth metatarsal bone. The cuboid bone andthe head of the fifth metatarsal bone are free. Anteroposteriorally theinnersole is somewhat concave on the bottom and correspondingly convexon the top to provide the curvature of the normal arch.

Another object of the invention is to provide an insole having inner andouter flanges to prevent displacement of the foot bones.

Another object of the invention is to provide an insole having one innerflange for supporting the arch and two outer flanges, one of which is toprevent rotation of the heel bone and the other flange arranged toprevent the region of the metatarsal bones from being displaced towardsthe outside of the foot.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an insole forfurnishing support to the inside of the arch without displacing the footover too far on the outside.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a saddle effectunder the arch of the foot with a.- steadying flange at the inside ofthe arch to prevent foot rotation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support under the cuboidarea as well as under the longitudinal arch.'

Other objects of the invention will appear as the disclosure progresses.The drawing is intended to merely indicate a possible embodiment of theinvention. It is therefore not intended to limit the invention to theembodiment illustrated but rather to define such limits in the appendedclaims: y

In the drawin Figure 1 is a top view of a developed length of theinsole.

Figure 2 is a side view of the insole, the last on which the sole isformed being shown in dotted lines.

Figure 3 is a view of the opposite side of the insole.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

. Figure. 5 is a section on line 55 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, numeral I designates the insolemade of leather or the like and comprising a toe portion 2, a rearportion 3 and an arched portion 4. At the inside of the arch portion isan upstanding curved 5 flange 5 adapted to hug the inside of the archand prevent displacement of the foot.

Opposite the curved flange 5 are a set of two upstanding flanges 6 andI. The flange 6 is adapted to prevent rotation of the heel bone and 10the flange I is to prevent the region of the metatarsal bones ironibeing displaced towards the outside of the foot. The distance betweenthe flanges 6 and I is just enough to prevent irritation of the base ofthe fifth metatarsal bone 15 and the cuboid bone.

Underneath the arch portion of the insole is a steel arch support 8arranged to provide support under the cuboid area as well as under thelongitudinal arch. The rear end 9 of the arch 20 support is attached tothe insole by the rivet III while the forwardend is free to give" withthe movement of the foot. The inside edge ll of the arch supportopposite the curved flange 5 is concave while the opposite edge of thesupport 25 is partly inclined as at l2 and partly concave as at l3 andmeeting at the widened point I4. The portion of the inclined edge l2 ofthe support is adjacent the flange 6, the concave portion l3 adjacentthe flange I and the widened point is sub- 30 stantially between theflanges 6 and 1. The dotted lines [5, I 6 and I! in Figure 1 indicatesubstantially the line on which the insole is bent to form theupstanding flanges 5, 6 and 1. The dotted lines shown in Figures 2 and 3indicate 35 the last on which the insole is formed.

It will thus be seen that we have provided an insole for properlysupporting the arch of the foot which will be comfortable to the wearerof the shoe and which will prevent the displacement 40 of the footbones.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. An insole formed from a single piece of thin material shaped toprovide a sole portion and a flange at one side edge thereof shaped tofit 45 the inner longitudinal arch of the foot and lie closelythereagainst within the lateral outer side portion of the upper, a pairof spaced apart flanges at the outer side edge of said sole portion, oneof said pair of flanges being integral 50 with the forepart of the heelportion of said sole and stopping short of the mid arch, the other ofsaid pair arising from said edge of the sole forwardly of the forwardend of the last mentioned flange of the pair of flanges and merging intosaid edge back of the toes in the metatarsal region of the foot, thepair of flanges being spaced apart at their adjacent ends to avoid thecuboid bone and the tuberosity at the base of the fifth metatarsal bone,the free edge of all of said flanges being curved in the direction oftheir length and merged into the edges of the sole, said first mentionedflange being concaved transversely and of a width to extend upwardly tothe side of the foot at the mid portion of the arch, and said pair offlanges being curved transversely and both of a lesser width than saidfirst mentioned flange, and a metal shank memberhaving a lateralprojection opposite said space between said pair of flanges to supportthe cuboid bone from beneath, said shank member being concave in crosssection to conform to the cross sectional curvature of said soleportion. I

2. An insole comprising a sole portion curved transversely to conformclosely to the surface of a shoe sole within a shoe, said sole portionhaving a pair of edge projections integral with one edge of said portionand curving outwardly and upwardly therefrom to span the angle betweensole and upper of the shoe and lie in contact with the upper, saidprojections being curved at their free edges longitudinally of said soleand merged into the edge of the sole, said projections being spacedapart by a deep depression or notch extending inwardly beyond themeeting of shoe sole and upper in the metatarsal region and midway ofthe arch at the outer side of the foot, and an edge projection at theside of the sole portion opposite that having said pair, said singleprojection curving outwardly and upwardly from the edge of said soleportion to fit closely beneath and against the foot arch and extendingfrom the forward part of the heel and merging into rear part of toeportion, and a thin metal shank member of extended width formed concavein cross section to conform to the cross sectional curvature of the archportion of said insole and formed with an obtuse projection oppositesaid notch between said pair of projections to support the cuboid boneof the foot from beneath, the opposite side edge. of said shank memberbeing curved inwardly to avoid the curved meeting line of said singleedge projection with the arch portion of the insole.

3. An insole comprising a sole portion having a flange along the archportion thereof to support the inner longitudinal arch, and a supportfor the outside of the foot consisting of a pair of flanges, one of saidflanges of the pair arising from the edge portion of the forepart of theheel portion of the soleand the other of the pair arising back of thetoe portion in the metatarsal region of the foot, the flanges of thepair being spaced apart at their adjacent ends to avoid the cuboid boneand the tuberosity at the base of the fifth metatarsal bone, the portionofthe sole between the first mentioned flange and the flanges of thepair being concave, and a transversely concave metal shank fixed to saidsole portion and having a concave edge in plan on the side adjacentthefirst mentioned flange, and a concave forward edge portion and astraight edge portion on the side adjacent the pair of flanges, thejunction of the straight and concave edges formingan obtuse pointopposite the space between said pair of flanges.

MORTON HACK. DAVID R. BRADY.

